To capture the ringleader first is to capture the king—this saying, James Bolton understood well. Although James Bolton had confidence in his own iron fists, he wasn’t blindly self-assured!

At the doorway, Black Panther, Blondie Howard, and the others were all stunned when they saw James Bolton suddenly charge forward without a word!

Before they could figure out what was happening, James Bolton had already thrown a punch; the movement didn’t seem particularly fast, but it exerted an indescribable pressure on Black Panther.

Black Panther felt that no matter how he retreated, he couldn’t dodge. Years of brawling experience told him that the guy in front of him was a real expert! In that instant, Black Panther didn’t have time to think—he instinctively raised his arm to shield his chest.

There was a “crack,” and Black Panther was sent flying. Not only was his arm broken, but his chest was also struck with tremendous force.

That punch broke at least three of Black Panther’s ribs. Blondie Howard and the others were all shocked by James Bolton’s sudden attack!

They never expected James Bolton would dare to make the first move. Now, seeing their boss knocked to the ground, coughing up blood, they were burning with rage!

For gangsters, loyalty is everything. Not only were they not scared off, they all rushed forward together.

“Let’s go! There’s four of us—are we really afraid of just him?” Blondie Howard shouted as he charged.

James Bolton hadn’t expected that punch to be so powerful. Although he’d punched a dent in a tree trunk at the park yesterday, a tree is lifeless—nowhere near as shocking as sending a person flying with a single blow!

Seeing Blondie Howard charging at him, James Bolton thought that these thugs wouldn’t call the police even if they got beaten up, so while he didn’t go all out like before, he didn’t hold back much either!

These little punks had only been in a few group fights and shaken down a few people for protection money—how could they have ever dealt with someone as formidable as James Bolton!

In no time at all, they were all knocked to the ground by James Bolton, and Blondie Howard had even lost a mouthful of teeth from a single punch, looking utterly miserable!

It was, after all, James Bolton’s first time fighting people. He hadn’t thought much during the fight, but now, seeing all five of them lying on the ground groaning, he was startled and didn’t know what to do!

Fortunately, the other three weren’t seriously hurt, and didn’t say anything like “Just you wait, kid!” They got up, lifted Black Panther, supported Blondie Howard, and left.

It wasn’t until they’d been gone for a while that James Bolton snapped out of it—he’d actually gotten into a fight, and the other side seemed to be seriously injured!

James Bolton was both worried about the injured guys and shocked by the power of his iron fists!

At that moment, James Bolton realized that the law of the jungle is always true, no matter the era! If he hadn’t learned the iron fist, today’s outcome might have been very different!

Chapter 5: Police Beauty Xinyu

“This world is ruled by the strong. The law of the jungle is a law of nature at all times. I refuse to live humbly! I want to rise above others!”

James Bolton shouted in his heart. He didn’t want to go back to the way things were, didn’t want to live a precarious life.

After Black Panther and the others left, James Bolton became even more determined to train his iron fist, all to protect himself and his family.

After hastily dealing with lunch, James Bolton began practicing his iron fist!

Punch after punch, tirelessly, over and over again…

“Gurgle…” After practicing all afternoon, James Bolton was startled awake by the protest from his own stomach.

“Come on, is it really that bad? It’s just one afternoon without food—are you really that hungry?”

James Bolton helplessly stopped punching. Looks like he’ll have to prepare dozens of big steamed buns for his training in the future!

He opened the attribute panel, and looking at his new stats, he was filled with excitement. Though exhausted from an afternoon of training, the benefit of his stamina rising to 10 made James Bolton forget all about fatigue and hunger!

Reaching a stamina of 10 was a qualitative leap. James Bolton felt that all his senses were much sharper now—even his slightly nearsighted eyes could see things much more clearly!

And as his stamina broke through to 10, James Bolton’s combat power also reached 10, which made James Bolton overjoyed!

James Bolton didn’t know exactly what a combat power of 10 meant, but when his combat power was only 7, he’d already sent Black Panther flying with a punch—so 10 must be even more terrifying!

“Does this make me a superman now? In the past, I’d have been considered a martial arts hero, right? Hahaha…” James Bolton imagined himself flying through the sky, traveling with beauties, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Forget beauties—haven’t even seen a single sow, let alone a pretty girl. Better focus on developing more system functions!”

Putting those thoughts aside for now, James Bolton remembered the gambling stones he’d brought back from Antique Street. It was time to unlock the second function!

James Bolton picked up a raw stone with an energy reading of 112, silently said “Recycle,” and heard, “Recycle successful, energy returned: 112 points. Host’s remaining energy: 112 points. Host’s martial skill has not reached the Minor Achievement stage, second martial skill cannot be unlocked yet. Other skills available…”

James Bolton rubbed his nose in frustration. He’d wanted to unlock another martial skill and learn some internal energy techniques, but hadn’t expected there to be requirements for unlocking skills!

Still, James Bolton wasn’t discouraged. According to the martial arts essentials in his mind, he knew that martial arts generally have four stages: Beginner, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, and Perfection.